Pageantry of Miss Texas Teen show

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, April 2, 2007

What she didn't know was how much her represented city, Magnolia, would benefit from her win.

Washam was asked by pageant director Connie Bottiglione where she would like to have the next pageant. Without hesitation, she said Magnolia.

"She asked me where I wanted it and I suggested here," Washam said. "The Houston area is such a big area where a lot of girls do a lot of pageants."

According to Magnolia Chamber of Commerce President Anne Sundquist, the auditorium has already been booked and the time has been set. The 2008 pageant will take place at the Magnolia West High School auditorium on the last Saturday of March.

"It's good to have the pageant where the reigning queen is," Sundquist said. "(Washam) said she would love to have it here. It's an exciting time for us. If anyone deserves the scholarship she does, but Magnolia definitely benefits."

Sundquist said most of the pageants have been held in the Dallas area, but that it will be nice for the Gulf Coast area to benefit from the event. She said there will be an incentive for two groups: the girls in the Houston area who compete and for local businesses who will thrive from the surge of traffic.

She also said she is very proud of Washam and that she has been a positive and fresh face for the city.

"She is a wonderful person to work with," she said. "Everyone who came in contact with her was just taken by her. She has fulfilled her responsibilities as Miss Magnolia and has gone above and beyond those responsibilities."

Sundquist said Bottiglione wanted to have a plan for where the next pageant would be held soon after the end of the event and which non-profit organization would host the event.

Bottiglione could not be reached for comment.

Sundquist said the chamber would host and sponsor the event and that the chamber is looking for more sponsors who will in turn receive statewide recognition.

For more information on the event or to become a sponsor, call the chamber at 281-356-1488.